WordsWorth Books
 | |
| Private | |
| Industry | Bookselling |
| Founded | 1966 |
| Founder | Bruce Wentworth |
| Headquarters | Chance Harbor, Indora |
Number of locations | 50 (December 2020) |
Key people | Adrian Griffin (President and CEO) |
| Products | Books, magazines, collectibles, toys, technology and gifts |
| Revenue |  IN$70 million (2020) |
| IN$50 million (2020) | |
| Owner | The Adelaide Group |
Number of employees | 300 (December 2020) |
| Website | wordsworthbooks.com.in |
WordsWorth Books, Inc., commonly referred to as WordsWorth or W Books, is an Indorian bookstore chain. It was founded in 1966 by Bruce Wentworth. The company currently operates 50 stores that sells books, magazines, collectibles, toys, technology, and gifts. WordsWorth stores feature Pressed, a café serves coffee and espresso drinks. Located primarily in shopping mall, WordsWorth competes primarily with Waldenbooks and Encore Books.
In October 2009, the Adelaide Group acquired the company.
History
WordsWorth first store opened in downtown Chance Harbor in August of that year, followed by a second store in Rockville. The chain was originally intended to operate in downtowns and suburban areas but the majority of it original stores were opened inside regional shopping malls.
In 1970, WordsWorth was acquired by Karshev.
WordsWorth rapidly expanded throughout the 1970s and 1980s, going from 20 stores in 1968 to 125 five years later, peaking at 808 locations in 1986. The chain had stores in 12 of the 18 regions in Indora, making it the second largest bookstore chain after Waldenbooks (Indora’s largest bookstore chain) in store numbers, but posted higher profits than its rival. The chain opened its flagship store in Port Amanda in December 1978.
In 1979, the chain acquired BookShelve.
By 1986, discounting practices by rival bookstore chains and a decrease in mall shopping had caused declining profits for WordsWorth. As a result of the declining profits, Karshev sold the WordsWorth chain to its main rival the Waldenbooks Group.
Under Waldenbooks's ownership, WordsWorth acquired the Gadget Store, a consumers home electronics, gifts and other high-tech lifestyle products retailer, in 1989 for IN$49 million. At the same time, the chain began closing stores and relocating others. By 1997, the chain had shrunk to 520 locations, and would continue to close many more locations in the following decades.
In 1997 WordsWorth opened its first international in Hong Kong; it then expanded to open stores in Austrialus and Rhodesia. At the chain's peak of international success it had 35 international locations, 26 stores in Austrialus, 5 stores in Rhodesia, and 4 stores in Hong Kong.
By the mid-2000s, Waldenbooks announced it was spinning off the Gadget Store into a publicly traded company. The corporate spin-off was completed by late December 2004. Waldenbooks sold their entire stake in the Gadget Store less than a year later.
As a way to pay off debt, Waldenbooks put up all of its Austrialian, Hong Kong, and Rhodesian stores including the WordsWorth international stores up for sale. These plans were called off as Waldenbooks could not find a suitable buyer for the stores.
On October 30, 2009, Waldenbooks announced they sold the WordsWorth chain to the Adelaide Group for IN$120 million.
In January 2010 the Adelaide Group announced that WordsWorth would close 103 of the 180 stores, 18 international and 50 Indorian locations, citing "a reduction in corporate headcount."
On August 1, 2010 WordsWorth launched a customer loyalty program called WordsWorth Rewards. The reward program original enabled customers to get discount coupons. In 2019 the program was overhauled. The reward program is still free but now customers rack up points that turn into store credit. After a customer hits 1,000 points, they are given IN$10 in store credit that can be spent on anything except Gift Cards. But credits do expire after 30 days.
On January 23, 2012, WordsWorth permanently closed all 5 of its Rhodesian stores as a way to cut its debts.
In February 2013, WordsWorth announced the closure of its remaining 8 Austrialian stores. All stores in Austrialus were closed by April 2013.
On May 20, 2015, Mickey Shaw, announced that he would be retiring as President and CEO after 20 years with the company. Melissa Snyder became President and CEO following Shaw retirement in December 2015.
In late July 2016, Borders Group acquired WordsWorth 4 Hong Kong stores, customer base, Internet business and other assets for IN$7 million. The Borders deal came at the last minute and saved the Hong Kong stores from closure. Borders Group also decided to re-brand the WordsWorth stores to Borders.
On August 6, 2018, WordsWorth announced the closure of 10 locations leaving the chain with only 50 locations across Indora.
In December 2018 Melissa Snyder announced she would step down and was replaced by COO, Adrian Griffin. Griffin faced an uphill battle to revitalize a brand that had lost customer confidence. But under his leadership WordsWorth made significant strategic changes to the way their business operates. The chain overhauled its business technologies with work on its e-commerce that included new algorithms on its website to help personalize the online shopping experience, improvements to product ranking, updated point-of-sale IT, introduced contactless payment in its stores, adjusted store hours, renovated store, and updated WordsWorth Rewards program.
Stores
Store sizes range from 15,000 to 17,000 square feet and sell books, magazines, collectibles, toys, technology, and gifts.
Initially, WordWorth targeted middle-class suburban customers, with stores that featured parquet flooring and wide aisles. In the mid-2000s the store switched to a mass-market approach, allowing for a wider range of titles.
Under the oversight of its new President and CEO, Adrian Griffin, WordsWorth newly renovated stores are slightly larger, brighter, and more versional open. Stores are organized into “discovery hubs.” With bright and generally larger signs high atop walls for easier navigation around the store. There is also an emphasis on Pressed, a cafés area that has coffee and espresso drinks, locally sourced pastries, healthy snacks, grab-and-go lunch options and made-to-order smoothies. Outlets and wireless chargers are on every countertop for customers’ devices. Store also feature free Wi-Fi access. Griffin's idea was to turn WordsWorth stores into a gathering place where customers naturally gather to "help customers out of their digital bubbles and get them to interact with one another.”
The new design will be adopted to every store. Stores will close to undergo either renovation or relocation. A number of stores where relocated and reopened in new sites. WordsWorth stores have benefitted from the refreshed look and have been widely welcomed by customers and the book trade.